Stanley, wrestling will miss each other

In 43 years of coaching, Vic Stanley was penalized by an official one time, and that was long ago.

"If your wrestler looked over at you and you were screaming and hollering, they would know you were not in control of yourself and that's not the message you want to send," Stanley said.

"In my 20s, I yelled a bit and I got penalized by a referee for disputing a call, and I told myself that wouldn't happen again. The refs are trying to do a job, and all I did was hurt my kid."

For those who watched Stanley during his coaching career - first at Council Rock, then at Archbishop Wood, Neshaminy, Pen Argyl and finally La Salle - it was one of calm and cool on the outside while he watched his wrestlers. On the inside, it was another story.

"I lived and died with all my kids," Stanley said. "It would tear me up inside because you want them to do well."

Stanley, 70, who officially retired from coaching last week after he spoke to his current group of Explorers, always made sure his teams were prepared. And, in turn, they did well.

Very well, for the man who always wore a jacket, shirt and tie while he coached.

Stanley coached four individual state champions, countless state medalists, and a boatload of league championship teams. His 1977 Council Rock team, which featured two state champs, C.D. Mock and Mike Sipler, also won the state team title. All told, he piled up 481 victories.

"I coached for the fun of it and, if I was worried about winning, I would have quit in '77 when we won everything," Stanley said. "But coaching until I got 500 wins never entered my mind.

"I resigned now because my health won't allow me to do it anymore. I have a wife I love dearly and two granddaughters that I want to see grow up. I had to make a choice, and I can't coach the way I'm used to coaching and it was time to walk away."

Already enshrined in the Pennsylvania Wrestling Hall of Fame and National Wrestling Hall of Fame, Stanley will be remembered for all the winning he did.

The thing is, though, he never took the easy way. He never took over a loaded program. Those programs just became loaded because of the work he and his assistants put in.

Stanley's first Council Rock team, in 1967, won one match, beating Bristol. "My heavyweight, Chester Fesmire, got a pin to win the match, my first one."

Twenty-seven years later, he left Council Rock because of health reasons, but not before building a team that at one point won 88 straight dual meets.

Think about that.

After a break, it was off to Warminster, where Stanley turned the Vikings around in three seasons. Then at Neshaminy for three years, where he coached Mike Pirozzola to two state titles, and took five Redskins to Hershey in one of those seasons.

After another break, the bug bit again and he went over to Germantown Academy to help one of his former Council Rock wrestlers, Steve Hill, work with the Patriots.

That whetted his appetite, and Pen Argyl was looking for a coach.

"I was at Pen Argyl for three years and enjoyed it," Stanley said. "But I've lived in Doylestown forever, and it's 52 miles each way to Pen Argyl. That was too much. After that, I thought I was done."

But he couldn't walk away because what Stanley always did was coach.

The only coach in state history to have wrestlers reach the PIAA finals from four schools - Council Rock, Neshaminy, Pen Argyl and La Salle - needed one more go round.

La Salle needed a coach and Stanley was available.

He spent six seasons with the Explorers and, as usual, turned a middle-of-the-road team into a power, winning three Philadelphia Catholic League titles. His last team placed seventh in Hershey a few weeks ago, and four of his wrestlers won medals.

For those who've followed Stanley over the decades, those results weren't a surprise.

"I'll miss the teaching and the interaction with the kids," Stanley said. "I'm a 70-year-old man working with 15-year-old kids and we're laughing together.

"I'll miss seeing the good kid get better and seeing the kid who never saw a wrestling match until he was in one get better. And when I think back on it, I'll relive all the great matches between Neshaminy and Council Rock and La Salle and North Catholic and Bangor and Pen Argyl and smile."

Drew Markol can be reached at 215-345-3141 or dmarkol@phillyBurbs.com Follow Drew on Twitter at twitter.com/dmarkol

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